The latest inflammatory statements by Alternate Health Minister Pavlos Polakis, one of the more controversial members of the struggling Tsipras coalition government, regarding the Novartis case and judicial investigations in general, generated a heated rebuke on Thursday by union representing justices and prosecutors, as well as the opposition's ire.
Polakis again took to his favorite mode of public communication, his personal Facebook page, to charge that no less than five prosecutors in the country, whom he named, are unnecessarily delaying corruption-related probes.
In a later Tweet, main opposition New Democracy (ND) leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis posted, in English, the following:
"Rule of law in Greece is under threat. Prosecutors involved in Novartis case are publicly threatened by top Minister... The next elections will be about the economy, but also the quality of our democracy."
He added: "What is going on over the past few days is an unprecedented undermining of our democratic institutions, and threaten the separation of powers in our country... it's unacceptable in a rule of law state for a serving minister to threaten, by name, prosecutors and magistrates that they are not fulfilling their mission, as the latter sees fit, and for the prime minister to cover up for him."
In a reply to Mitsotakis' statement, the Greek prime minister's office issued an official response, this time eschewing "press leaks" attributed to "sources", saying that the center-right political leader is exhibiting "undue stress, tension and anger of the past few days, just as ND party, in relation to the Novartis case... In any case, we recommend he stay calm and trust the justice system."
Several other opposition parties also lambasted Polakis' FB quip regarding the independent justice system.
In its statement, the group representing jurists said "the union... which is not controlled by the extra-judicial ring run by (the government), today publicly condemns the government for an institutional deviation, as this is unprecedented for the period after the restoration of democracy; has Mr. Tsipras anything to say, or is he bestowing power to Pavlos Polakis?"
